


The Avvarian Lion’s Love

by ShadowArtemis4456



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Avvar Cullen Rutherford, F/M, I have no idea where this came from, OC was raised by Elves, Other additional tags to be added (if I remember)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-31
Updated: 2019-02-06
Packaged: 2019-10-15 22:08:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17537189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowArtemis4456/pseuds/ShadowArtemis4456
Summary: He is an Avvarian and she was raised by the Dalish. He is human but so is she, though She was adopted by the Dalish after being found abandoned in the woods. He fell for her at first sight, she took her time falling for him. He watched over her, and she cared for him. Two souls, two different backgrounds, one love.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I have literally NO idea where this came from. I was just sitting and eating chips and cheese dip when it came to me. Must have been the music I was listening to. Either way: Have an Avvarian CullenXFemale OC fic.

When they first met, he did not mean to startle her. In fact, he didn’t mean to meet her at all, only to watch her from afar. But despite all of his training, he had accidently stepped on a fallen branch, it had snapped and she had started along with the deer like creature she had lead to the water, a Hart was what it had been now that he remembered. He had meant to get some water for his waterskin before rejoining his clan for the hunt, but seeing her there had given him pause, and something had encouraged him to move a shade closer to get a better look at the woman who stood petting her mount while it drank from the stream. He had watched as she joined it, leaning down next to the Hart’s massive antlered forehead with what looked to be over five or more points on each antler, and had plunged her slender-fingered hands into the icy water and had scooped it up to drink the water from her cupped hands, right beside the Hart as if she had done that all her life and the Hart hadn’t minded it’s mistress drinking beside it. He watched as she repeated the action but he watched the Hart reached over and drank from her hands as one of its ears flicked. Once the water was gone, she wiped her hands down on her pants before reaching over to the Hart and began to rub its muzzle earning a sound that he could only describe as contentment, but the moment he went to step forward was when he made the mistake of accidently stepping on the fallen branch and they had snapped their heads in his direction. At first, none of them had dared to move then, slowly, he stepped out into the sunlight and he watched her study him. He could see the curiosity in her eyes, the wonder she had at who and what he was, but the Hart had snapped her out of it by deciding that he was dangerous, and she listened to the creature and just like that, she was gone faster than a dying fire. The second time they met, it had been three months since their first sighting of each other. He had returned to the stream each day around the time he had first seen her, but she was never there but on this warm day, she had returned to the stream. Alone. Watching her from the shadows once more, he sought to just watch and study her. To see who she was physically and he was interested to note that despite the elven markings that now marred the pale skin upon her face, she was wholly human. Her hair was a gorgeous shining ebony color with natural blue highlights (and curly as well from what he could see), her skin was the color of the lowlanders “porcelain”, but when she lifted her head her eyes were what caught his attention the most as they were the color of the sky itself and he watched as she looked around before they landed on him though he did not draw closer to the edge of the shadowed, oh but she knew he was there, she could sense him. He watched as she took a hesitant step forward and he felt every muscle in his body tense up as he froze in place, but her attention was son taken away as an older elven woman came seeking her and began to speak with her. He listened to their conversation despite not knowing what they spoke of but one thing he was sure of was the word "Andalla" which he figured to be her name and just like her it was beautiful to him. He watched as she began to follow the elder, but also saw her stop and look back towards his direction with wonder in her eyes before she vanished once more from his sight. 

It would be a full year before they would meet again for the third time, and still, during that whole time he would visit that stream in the hopes of catching even a minor glimpse of her, but she was never there. Fall, Winter, and Spring would pass without a sign of her and he would begin to wonder if he would ever lay eyes upon her form again. Walking towards the stream this summer day, he stopped as he heard a voice singing. Listening closely he realized who it was and felt himself tense up as he fought back the urge to just rush her way and instead settled for a fast-paced jog. The minute he stopped at the edge of the shadows, he saw her and felt his heart squeeze at the sight presented before him of Andalla in the elven "hunter" outfit with hair as neatly tied back as someone with curly hair could get it to be. Upon her back were a longbow and a quiver filled with arrows, and at her hip was a sheathed dagger, which he figured was for both protection and skinning. He listened as she sang and felt some form of peace overcome him and smiled softly, before noting that she had stopped singing and was looking around. Yet again she could sense his presence but she did not move outside of standing to place a hand on the dagger at her hip. Realizing what was happening, he decided that now would be a good time to reveal himself and slowly, so as not to startle her too much, he stepped out into the light and she watched him as he came out of the shadows with a wariness he had never seen from her before. He watched as she studied him carefully and soon saw recognition slowly dawn upon her as she recognized him; she watched him for a few more moments before she returned to doing what she was, confident that he wouldn't dare attempt anything while she was armed, and he wouldn't as he leaned down to fill his waterskin. But he found his gaze lifting to look at her and he watched as she did the same action and he felt as if the goddess known to him as The Lady was watching him through Andalla's eyes and felt his heart stop as he came to realize that he had unknowingly fallen for the young woman before him. He finished filling his waterskin, but just as he did a compulsion came over him and he stood and began walking towards her through the stream. She, however, remained crouched and soon he knelt down in front of her but did not yet reach out to touch her. Instead, she surprised him by gingerly reaching out to touch him but only after glancing up to receive his permission. Placing her slender fingered hand over the area that was over his heart, she felt him shiver at her touch and looked up into his eyes which she noted were as golden as a lion's eyes and oddly, she felt a slight thrill run through her. She made to speak but thought better of it though he could guess what she wanted. She watched as he motioned to himself and spoke his name, “Cullen,” He told her as he placed a hand on hers where it remained. He looked to her expectantly and she understood the silent question. 

“Andalla,” She confirmed his suspicion about her name and he studied her as he continued to hold her hand where it rested. She could pull away as he didn’t have too tight a grip, yet a part of her did not want to pull away at all. 

“ _Andalla..._ ” he sighed out in a manner that spoke of his admiration of it and the way it rolled off his tongue so easily sent a shiver down her spine. For several moments, neither spoke as they crouched there, him letting her feel his heartbeat. For several moments they stayed like that. Until a voice called out for Andalla, which in turn forced her to turn away as well as pull away as she looked in the direction of the person calling her, but when she went to turn back towards Cullen, he was gone and her face fell. Dropping her head, she stood and looked around for him but wherever he had gone she could not be sure. grabbing up her bow and her quiver full of arrows, Andalla looked around once more before heading off to see what the person calling her name wanted. 

Cullen, for his part, stood in the shadows on the opposite bank and felt a sharp stab of pain in his heart at seeing how saddened she had looked when she had turned to find him gone. But as he watched her leave, he could not know that the gods of his people were speaking to the clan's "Shaman", nor could Cullen know that the "shaman" was smiling as he was told what had transpired between Cullen and Andalla and that the gods themselves were favoring this match between the two. 


	2. One

Andalla smiled as she felt the sunshine warm her cold skin, then she felt a breeze pick up and smiled as it waved her hair around. "Good morning, Da'len!" her adoptive father called out as she smiled towards him. 

"Good morning Babae! Mamae!" Andalla turned to her adoptive mother who smiled over at her. 

"Be careful, Ashala ( _Daughter),_ " her mother smiled proudly at her as Andalla nodded her understanding before walking towards the woods and disappearing beyond the undergrowth. She planned on heading to the stream and spend as much time as she could there (at least somewhat alone until that strange man, or Cullen as she remembered his name to be, appeared) as she wasn’t sure when she would next be able to return to it as the clan would be heading out for a warmer place until the spring of the next year came.

Walking silently through the underbrush, Andalla listened to the sounds of the forest around her and was pleased to hear the calls of the many birds, the crunching of the leaves that had fallen in years past as wild halla and wild harts alike trotted through the growth. In the distance, she heard the cry of a falcon or two and attributed it to those who called themselves “Avvar” as she figured a hunting party was on the prowl. She heard many of the inhabitants of the forest and though several of them took notice of her, none of them felt threatened by her presence and thus returned to doing what they were while she passed through on feet as silent as a large cat’s paws. She had learned long ago, since the day she could walk, on how to move silently on her feet so as not to disturb the creatures around her; it had taken a lot of practice and much patience, but in the end, she had become successful. She made no other noise than a soft sigh and soon made it to the stream where she decided to drink a bit of the crisp clean water, which not only quenched her thirst but also “refreshed” her dry throat. Deciding to sit down, Andalla sat at the edge and smiled as she watched the tiny fish swim about their business while the moss which grew upon the rocks in the water waved around as if it were stalks of grass in the breeze. Hearing what sounded to be like her usual animal companion, Andalla looked up and smiled as the Hart that usually accompanied her came trotting up and softly made a noise in greeting. "Hello to you too, Elgar." She greeted the creature which finished walking up and carefully rubbed his head against hers, before allowing her to kiss his nose. "It's been a while since we last spoke," She told the great beast which made a noise in agreement; as she reached up from where she was sitting to pet the creature, Andalla smiled. She had named the hart "Elgar" which meant "Spirit" in the Elven language, a language she spoke fluently thanks to the clan she had been adopted into being one of the few who used it on a daily basis, because he was a very spirited hart yet was also extremely sweet to her. Elgar soon moved to lay down behind her and she smiled as she leaned back against him and he minded his antlers so he would not accidently hit her as he turned his head to rest his chin on her head for a moment, all while she was running her hand through his downy coat. What she did not know was that Cullen had arrived just a moment ago, as Elgar was laying down, and was smiling as he watched the interaction between the hart and her. Looking to Elgar, Cullen was amazed to recognize it as one of the harts that his people often referred to as a "Greater Frostback Elk" and he amazed at how gentle it was being with the young woman who was of the Dalish despite her being a human. He had seen a few (his clan had two sets of breeding pairs after all) but this one was completely wild thus it bore none of the white paint with the black jagged stripes that the ones in his clan wore, yet still the hart was gentle and mindful of the young woman and Cullen silently wondered what could have caused this special bond the two shared to have formed and as he studied the creature, he saw the reason upon its hind leg. It had been injured and from how old the scars looked, he could tell it had been injured when it had been a fawn. Yet something told Cullen that despite its former injury it was more than likely just as swift as it brethren if not more so; as he stood watching, he heard the cry of what seemed to be a falcon and looked skyward only to see a beautiful snowy white colored Falcon come swooping down low before it landed on Elgar's back and Andalla greeted the bird as well, but that was not the only creature to come to her as soon a grey-muzzled black wolf also came from the shadows, but that wasn't surprising for him to see as he had heard that the Dalish were known for being allies of such creatures. No, what surprised him the most was when he was suddenly a witness to the moment a large cat, more specifically a Red Lion, came walking up and began to "chuff" in it's greeting to her which she returned as he (Cullen could see the thick mane upon it better now) plopped down  before her and rolled onto his back for her to rub her hand upon his belly. But then she spoke again, and Cullen turned his attention back to her even though he could not understand what she was saying. "Apparently you all have decided to visit me today," She smiled as she continued to rub the cat's belly. "I have someone I wish to see once more, then we can go running through the forest for old times sake." She told the creatures around her as she lifted her gaze to see Cullen watching her with both amazement and curiosity in his eyes. She carefully removed herself from the circle of now sleeping animals (minus the Falcon as the bird was watching him with its large golden eyes) and approached the edge of the water to await whatever reaction he would have to what she had done. 

Cullen, however, found that he could not pull his attention away from her and so walked towards her and despite how he traversed through the watter like it was nothing, he made not a sound nor a splash as he approached her and soon stood looking down into her eyes as she looked up into his. “Andalla,” he whispered softly, being mindful of the animals that slept while the Falcon continued to watch him carefully. 

“Cullen,” she returned just as softly, though, this time, she was unsure of what to do. Should she reach out and touch him or should she continue to stand there staring up into his golden gaze that reminded her of a lion’s eyes. But he seemed to answer that by reaching out and held his hand just barely away from her cheek. She could see the unasked question in his eyes and leaned her head into his hand and saw how surprised he looked for a moment before his gaze turned soft once more. His hand was rough, from years of handling swords, shields, bows and very likely daggers and knives alike. 

To him, the skin on her face was like the softest of fur if not more so even despite the fact that she had Dalish markings that she wore upon her face. They stayed together for a while, with him eventually moving out of the water to sit beside her on the bank, and neither would speak as they felt words were unneeded and unnecessary at this moment; But eventually, he would leave but before he headed back to his clan, he would watch as she hopped upon the back of the hart and would vanish with the animals at her side. What they not aware of, however, was that those precious few moments they had shared would be the only ones they would be able to share for two long years as tragedy would befall upon Andalla and the Dalish Clan that was her current family.


End file.
